Just recently, it has been revealed that almost 7000 of WA's small businesses have had a tax windfall.

A one-off payroll tax rebate awaits the almost 7000 WA’s small businesses as the Barnett Government commits to reimburse up to $41,250 each for the payroll tax in an attempt to bolster the non-mining parts of the economy.

But the WA’s small businesses will have to wait until next year to get the cash.

In an effort to reignite growth in the sagging economy, the Reserve Bank of Australia has made a cut on its interest rates, with the dollar diving on the recent decision.

As evidence of weaker demand in the Australian economy continues with weaker global conditions hitting exports and restricted wage growth keeping prices in check, the RBA has cut its growth and inflation forecasts for the next 18 months, according to its Statement on Monetary Policy released recently.

Weak business confidence pulls Australian dollar down by a third of a US cent.

The Australian dollar has seen a slight drop in quiet trade just recently as investors display weak business confidence, sitting on the sidelines awaiting the outcome of a Spanish government bond auction.

More and more businesses are seeing the “light” and how useful and efficient cloud computing can be for their businesses. Cloud computing is a remote computing power that allows its users to access their business accounts through the internet. A third party poses as admin and provides the services of the cloud.

Data of the CDW’s Cloud Computing Tracking Poll revealed that about 84 percent of organizations are already using at least one of the many services of cloud computing. Furthermore, about 76 percent of those using cloud computing for bookkeeping and accounting services claim that they have reduced the cost of their applications which have been transferred to the cloud. As a result, they are saving about 24 percent every year.

In order to prevent further financial crises, regulations have been designed that will specifically hit small businesses and enterprises. This means that lending to such businesses will prove to be more difficult. This is according to Professor Ian Harper who is a partner of the Deloitte Access Economics. He is also a member of the Wallis Inquiry in to the financial system done back in the ‘90’s.

"The biggest loser will be SMEs because large institutions can go direct to the bond market to raise fund," he said after Mike Smith, ANZ Chief, said that the rules that require banks to hold more capital will affect the global economy.

Excessive red tape from the state government, councils and WorkCover are causing damage to small businesses in Australia.

According to Yasmin King, New South Wales' first small business commissioner, small business operators in the state are struggling to have their voices heard and are suffering under excessive regulation.

After six months into the job, Commissioner King was saying that her job is to ensure that small businesses are thriving rather than just surviving as she observed that small businesses in her state are struggling to compete with big players because it is being forced to pay excessive wages.

Small businesses have done well over the Christmas period. The sales that they made over the said period had exceeded what was initially expected. However, the general figures of the calendar 2011 did not prove impressive despite the subdued conditions of the market.

Compared to the same month last year, the sales trends of small businesses show that in December 2011, there was an increase of about 3.3 percent according to ANZ Banking Group’s monthly Small Business Sales Trends. The report added that the growth had been continuous for eight months due to good performances in the mining states, and non-retail and service sectors.

The trading conditions have already been at their worst levels for about 14 years now. And this has led the business owners in believing that the economy is desperately in need of more interest rate reductions.

An appalling result in the latest survey of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) on investor confidence showed that most businesses are stabilizing at low levels while some others are “sinking to contractionary territory”.

According to the ACCI Director of Economics and Industry Policy, Greg Evans, "Overall the survey shows that mainstream Australian business is under significant pressure."

A recent survey reflects that among the top priorities of small and medium business this 2012 are customer relationships and increasing business activity in the markets.

This was according to the Business Monitor Survey which was released recently by MYOB, a management service provider. And yes, the customers remain the main focus of small and medium businesses.

"Customers will understandably remain the core focus for Australian SMEs in maintaining and strengthening their business health in 2012, with our research finding more than one third of businesses are set to increase activity around attracting customers' attention and building their loyalty,” said Tim Reed, Executive Chief of MYOB.

Cloud computing is increasingly becoming popular among business owners when it comes to their accounting software for business. In fact, Phil Wainewright, the vice president of Eurocloud, is saying that the norm now for businesses is cloud computing.

The soaring of running costs are driving small business owners to become more pessimistic. However, they are seen to bounce back according to a national happiness survey.

Only 48 percent of businesses are expecting an improved performance in the coming 6 months, according to Westpac Local Business Sentiment Survey. Furthermore, it said that this figure is 11 points down from the May survey. Among those that cause the biggest worries are increased costs and declining revenue.

From just 33 percent, there are already 40 percent of respondents who now believe that it is becoming more difficult to run a business.

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